The government will hire 103,000 community health promoters as part of a preventive approach to healthcare, President William Ruto has said.
Each promoter will be responsible for 100 households and will be kitted with modern medical equipment and deployed in communities across Kenya.
“Preventive healthcare saves lives and resources. This Bottom-Up approach to healthcare will allow us to detect health issues early and manage minor ones at the community level, which will decongest our hospitals and improve service delivery,” President Ruto explained.
The President also revealed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will train the workers.
He commended USAID for M-Mama, an innovative mobile app ambulance service that pregnant women and new mothers can call when in distress.
“USAID is a valued development patner. We have a robust partnership across many sectors and particularly in healthcare,” he said.
The President was speaking when he met USAID Administrator Samantha Power at State House, Nairobi.
Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha and US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman were present.
The government established its community health worker (CHW) program in 2006 as a key innovation of the Community Health Strategy.
As of end of 2019, Kenya had approximately 6,000 Community Health Units out of an expected 10,000.
These Community Health Units are further supported by 86,000 CHVs. CHVs are supported by 1,569 Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs).
